The 

World's  Sugar  Supply 

Its  Sources  and 
Distribution 


National  Bank  of  Commerce 
in  New  York 

December  1917 


CONTENTS 

FOREWORD    5 

INTRODUCTION    7-9 

CANE  SUGAR   10-16 

The   Sugar   Cane 10 

World  Production 11 

Cultivation  and  Manufacture 12-13 

Chief  Producing  Areas 13 

Exporting  Countries 14-16 

BEET  SUGAR   17-23 

Development  of  the  Beet  Sugar  Industry 17-19 

World   Production    19 

Chief  Producing  Areas 20 

Exporting  Countries 21-23 

SUGAR  CONSUMPTION 24-37 

Consumption  for  Selected  Countries 24 

Central  Powers   25 

Russia 25 

Belgium    26 

Italy    26 

Japan  and  Formosa 26-27 

China    27 

France    27-30 

British  Empire   31-36 

United  States   36-37 

PRICE  MOVEMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 38 

EXPORTS  OF  REFINED  SUGAR  OF  DOMESTIC  ORIGIN 
FROM   THE    UNITED   STATES    IN   RELATION    TO 

THE  WAR 39-40 

THE  UNITED  STATES  FOOD  ADMINISTRATION  AND 

THE  SUGAR  SITUATION 41-43 

SUMMARY  OF  THE  SUGAR  SITUATION.  .  .  .44-46 


Foreword 

SUGAR  is  a  commodity  of  daily  use  in  every  house- 
hold of  the  United  States.    The  shortage  in  the  sup- 
ply during  recent  weeks  has  hence  made  it  a  subject 
of  keen  and  universal  interest. 

This  pamphlet  is  published  by  the  National  Bank  of 
Commerce  in  New  York  as  part  of  the  bank's  effort  to 
furnish  in  easily  available  form  information  on  subjects 
of  special  and  immediate  significance  to  the  industrial, 
commercial  and  financial  community. 

It  is  the  second  of  a  series  dealing  with  commodities 
of  special  importance  from  the  standpoint  of  foreign 
trade.  The  first  of  the  series,  entitled  "Exports  of  Raw 
Cotton  from  the  United  States  to  the  Leading  European 
Neutrals,  1900-1917,"  appeared  in  September,  1917. 

The  Foreign  Department  of  this  Bank  is  in  close 
touch  with  the  rapid  development  which  is  now  taking 
place  in  the  foreign  trade  of  the  United  States,  and  as 
data  on  other  commodities  are  assembled,  similar  studies 
will  appear. 

This  pamphlet  has  been  sent  to  those  to  whom  it  is 
believed  the  subject  will  be  of  special  interest.  From 
those  who  care  for  additional  information  on  this,  or  on 
other  commodities  of  importance  in  the  import  and  ex- 
port field,  correspondence  is  invited  with  the  National 
Bank  of  Commerce  in  New  York. 


THE  WORLD'S  SUGAR  SUPPLY 
ITS  SOURCES  AND  DISTRIBUTION 

Introduction 

LESS  than  three  hundred  years  ago  the  great  mass 
of  the  people  had  scarcely  tasted  sugar,  while  for 
the  rich  it  was  the  rarest  of  luxuries,  and  was  even 
esteemed  as  a  medicine.    To-day  it  is  generally  regarded 
as  a  necessity  for  happiness,  if  not  for  health. 

Very  seldom  has  it  been  possible  to  trace  clearly  the 
original  home  of  any  food  staple,  or  to  find  the  paths 
by  which  it  was  carried  over  the  civilized  world.  This  is 
the  case  with  cane  sugar.  Here  and  there,  in  a  chance 
allusion  by  some  writer,  we  get  a  glimpse  of  the  roads 
over  which  the  knowledge  of  sugar  came  down  to  us, 
but  these  are  only  rare  flashes  at  long  intervals.  Appar- 
ently Gangetic  India  had  long  known  the  sugar  cane  and 
the  art  of  boiling  sugar  from  it.  The  Chinese  acquired 
the  knowledge  from  India  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventh 
century.  However,  sugar  cane  must  have  been  grown 
in  Egypt  at  the  same  time  that  its  growth  was  developing 
in  India,  for  it  is  known  that  the  Chinese,  in  the  Mongol 
period,  acquired  the  art  of  sugar  refining  from  Egyptian 
visitors.  It  was  the  Arabs,  the  transmitters  of  more  than 
one  priceless  practical  art,  who  finally  brought  the  culti- 
vation of  the  sugar  cane  to  the  knowledge  of  western 
Europe.  They  probably  acquired  the  knowledge  of  its 
cultivation  from  the  locality  about  Khuzistan,  in  Persia, 
and  in  the  days  of  their  westward  march  they  carried 
it  to  Morocco  and  even  into  Spain. 

In  the  days  when  Venice  was  the  great  port  of  the 
Adriatic,  among  the  luxuries  unloaded  at  her  crowded 
docks  was  sugar.  During  the  Middle  Ages  that  city  was 
the  great  European  centre  of  the  sugar  trade.  So  im- 


portant  was  sugar  regarded  by  her  merchants  that  to- 
ward the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  a  Venetian  citizen 
received  a  reward  of  100,000  crowns  for  the  invention  of 
the  art  of  making  loaf  sugar.  The  world  was  willing  to 
pay  for  sugar  then  as  now,  and  Venetian  merchants  car- 
ried sugar  out  of  the  Mediterranean  to  the  ports  on 
the  Atlantic.  Sugar  in  fairly  large  quantities  was  be- 
ginning to  come  to  Great  Britain  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, for  there  is  a  record  to  the  effect  that,  in  the  year 
1319,  one  Tomasso  Loredano,  merchant  of  Venice, 
shipped  100,000  pounds  of  sugar  to  London  to  be  ex- 
changed for  wool.  In  that  same  year  there  is  a  record 
in  an  account  of  the  chamberlain  of  Scotland  of  the 
payment  for  some  sugar  at  the  rate  of  one  shilling  nine 
and  a  half  pence  per  pound.  With  money  as  scarce  as 
it  was  in  Europe  at  this  time,  it  is  easy  to  understand 
how  the  workman  and  the  peasant,  who  saw  almost  no 
money  from  year's  end  to  year's  end,  scarcely  tasted  sugar 
and  still  regarded  it  as  almost  beyond  the  dreams  of  hope. 

It  was  the  great  age  of  discovery  by  the  Portuguese 
and  Spaniards  which  carried  the  cultivation  of  sugar 
around  the  world.  Cane  was  planted  in  Madeira  in  1420. 
It  was  carried  into  Santo  Domingo  in  1494,  and  early 
in  the  sixteenth  century  it  spread  to  the  West  Indies  and  to 
other  parts  of  South  America.  In  the  year  1700,  but 
ten  thousand  tons  of  sugar  came  to  Great  Britain.  By 
1800  the  amount  received  there  had  increased  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  tons,  and  sugar  may  be  said  to 
have  become  an  article  of  fairly  common  use. 

The  present  sugar  supply  of  the  world  is  no  longer 
dependent  entirely  upon  the  cultivation  of  the  famous 
grass,  the  succulent  stems  of  which  are  the  source  of  cane 
sugar.  It  was  a  German  professor,  one  Andreas  Sigis- 
mund  Marggraf,  who,  in  1747,  at  Berlin,  discovered  the 
existence  of  the  same  kind  of  sugar  in  the  root  of  the 
beet  and  in  numerous  other  fleshy  roots  which  grow  in 
temperate  regions.  The  first  beet  sugar  factory  in  the 
world  was  established  by  one  of  his  pupils,  Franz  Carl 


Achard,  at  Ctmern,  near  Breslau,  Silesia,  in  1801.  The 
cultivation  of  the  beet  for  sugar  has  since  spread  through- 
out the  countries  of  northern  Europe  and  into  the  United 
States  until  more  than  two-fifths  of  all  the  sugar  of  the 
world,  before  the  beginning  of  the  great  war,  was  the 
product  of  the  beet. 

The  increase  in  the  world's  sugar  supply  has  been 
rapid  ever  since  sugar  began  to  come  into  common  use. 
This  increase,  however,  has  been  particularly  notable 
since  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  striking  developments  of  modern  industry.  The 
following  table  (a)  indicates  the  rapidity  of  this  increase, 
and  the  relation  of  beet  sugar  production  to  the  total 
output : 


Period 

Total    production 
of  cane  and 
beet  sugar 

Per  cent, 
beet 

1840  :  

Short  Tons 
1,288,000 

4 

1850  

1  568  000 

14 

I860  

2  126  880 

20 

1870     .       .     * 

Q  705  920 

34 

Ten-year  average 
1879-80  to   1888-89  

4,942,896 

50 

1889-90  to   1898-99  

7  958  228 

60 

Five-year  average 
1899-1900  to   1903-4  

12  414  200 

55 

1904-5  to  1908-9  

15  220  000 

47 

1909-10  to   1913-14 

18  692  950 

45 

Four-year  average 
1914-15  to  1917-18   

19,069,691 

35 

(a)  Data  from  1840  to  1870  from  Encyclopedia  Brittanica,  llth  Edition, 
Volume  XXVI,  page  46;  1879-80  to  1898-99  from  United  States  Statistical 
Abstract,  1915,  page  509;  1899-1900  to  1911-12  from  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  Yearbook,  1914;  1913-14  and  1914-15,  same,  1916;  1915-16 
to  1917-18  from  Willett  and  Gray,  Weekly  Statistical  Sugar  Trade  Journal, 
Nov.  22,  1917.  Part  of  the  data  for  1916-17  and  1917-18  are  estimated.  Data 
for  1840  to  1870  are  for  calendar  years;  1879-80  to  1898-99,  fiscal  years; 
and  1899-1900  to  date,  crop  years.  The  totals  from  which  this  table  was  com- 
puted vary  slightly  for  certain  years  from  those  shown  for  cane  and  beet  sugar 
on  pages  11  and  19  because  of  a  difference  in  sources  used.  The  variation  is 
unimportant. 


Cane  Sugar 

The  sugar  cane,  from  which  more  than  half  of  the 
world's  sugar  supply  is  derived,  is  a  tall,  grass-like  plant, 
growing  from  six  to  twelve  or  more  feet  in  height. 


Sugar  cane  can  be  grown  from  cuttings,  or  it  will 
renew  itself  from  the  stubble  by  means  of  root  stalks. 
Cane  grown  from  cuttings,  or  seed  cane,  is  called  plant 
cane,  while  cane  grown  up  from  the  stubble  is  called 
ratoon  or  stubble  cane.  How  long  cane  is  allowed  to 
renew  itself  is  determined  by  local  conditions.  Thus,  in 
Java,  most  of  the  cane  each  year  is  plant  cane,  while  in 
Cuba  as  many  as  twenty  ratoon  crops  have  been  cut  from 
a  single  planting. 


The  sugar  cane  is  a  native  of  the  tropics,  and  cannot 
grow  outside  of  a  sub-tropical  climate.  Its  cultivation 
has  hence  been  associated  with  all  the  glamour  and  the 
shadow  of  tropical  agriculture.  Well  into  the  nineteenth 
century,  sugar  and  slavery  in  many  areas  had  an  intimate 
relationship.  Because  of  climatic  conditions  the  cultiva- 
tion of  sugar  cane  by  white  labor  is  even  yet  scarcely 
possible,  and  until  modern  tropical  sanitation  developed, 
was  quite  out  of  the  question. 

10 


The  increase  in  cane  sugar  production  has  been  very 
rapid  since  1900.  The  following  table  (a)  shows  the 
total  cane  sugar  production  of  the  world  for  each  year, 
beginning  with  1904-5: 

Year  Production       \ 

Short  Tons 

1904-5    7,644,568 

1905-6    7,532,931 

1906-7 8,349,712 

1907-8    7,910,906 

1908-9    8,639,792 

1909-10    9,408,106 

1910-11    9,736,707 

1911-12    10,136,092 

1912-13    10,817,125 

1913-14    11,168,985 

1914-15    11,355,671 

1915-16    11,956,624 

1916-17    12,623,084 

1917-18    13,477,800 

^ 

The  development  of  tropical  agriculture  is  a  romance 
of  modern  industry,  and  the  increase  in  the  production 
of  cane  sugar  is  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  that 
story.  An  increase  in  the  production  of  beet  sugar,  while 
to  a  certain  degree  it  may  represent  an  increase  in  the 
world's  food  supply,  is  primarily  a  diversion  from  one 
form  of  food  production  to  another.  Every  additional 
ton  of  cane  sugar  means  either  the  replacing  of  inefficient 
by  efficient  methods  of  culture,  or  the  reclamation  of  trop- 
ical forests  to  the  uses  of  man. 


(a)  Data  from  1904-5  to  1914-15  are  from  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and 
Domestic  Commerce,  Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry, 
page  432.  Data  for  1915-16  to  1917-18  are  from  Willett  and  Gray,  Weekly 
Statistical  Sugar  Trade  Journal,  Nov.  22,  1917.  Some  figures  for  1916-17  and 
all  data  for  1917-18  are  estimates.  The  totals  in  this  table  differ  slightly  from 
the  cane  sugar  totals  which  entered  in  the  table  on  page  9,  as  the  former 
table  was  compiled  from  different  sources,  in  order  to  secure  comparable  data 
prior  to  1904-5. 

11 


When  the  cane  is  nearing  maturity,  a  modern  sugar 
plantation  under  high  cultivation  is  a  striking  sight.  In 
the  distance  rises  the  sugar  mill.  Here  and  there,  be- 
tween the  fields,  tram-lines  are  seen,  by  which  the  cane 
is  to  be  carried  to  the  mill,  while  in  the  foreground  are 
miles  of  luxuriant,  green  cane.  Conditions  surrounding 
sugar  cane  production  vary  greatly  in  the  different  cane 
sugar  areas  of  the  world.  In  a  favorable  climate,  a  cer- 
tain yield  may  result  with  little  labor,  but  to  attain  to 
efficient  production,  exacting  standards  must  be  main- 
tained. 

In  Hawaii  the  most  modern  machinery  is  used 
*  throughout  in  the  cultivation  of  cane.  Much  of  the  land  is 
broken  with  steam  plows,  and  irrigation  on  a  scientific 
scale  is  practiced.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Cuban  plow 
is  often  drawn  by  oxen.  Nevertheless,  the  cultivation  of 
cane  involves  at  best  a  large  amount  of  hand  labor  for 
weeding,  hoeing,  and  so  forth,  and  at  last  the  heavy  cane 
must  be  cut  by  hand,  whether  ox-cart,  flume  or  tram- 
line finally  carries  it  to  the  mill. 

The  principal  processes  involved  in  the  manufacture 
of  raw  sugar  from  cane,  summarized  in  a  non-technical 
way,  are  the  extraction  of  the  juice  by  crushing  or  by 
diffusion,  its  clarification  by  means  of  lime  and  heat,  boil- 
ing in  order  to  concentrate  the  juice  into  syrup,  crystalli- 
zation of  the  sugar  by  evaporation  in  vacuum  pans  until 
the  syrup  is  saturated  with  sugar,  and  the  separation  of 
the  molasses  from  the  sugar  by  the  use  of  the  centrifugal 
machine. 

Cane  sugar  is  not  ordinarily  refined  at  the  point  of 
production.  It  is  shipped  in  a  raw  state  to  some  point 
near  its  ultimate  market.  Sugar  refining  is  a  highly 
technical  process.  The  raw  sugar  is  dissolved  and  passes 
through  several  processes,  being  washed,  freed  of  im- 
purities, and  decolorized.  It  is  finally  crystallized,  dried, 
and  becomes  the  refined  sugar  of  commerce.  While 
a  number  of  kinds  and  grades  of  refined  sugar  are  pro- 

12 


duced,  granulated  sugar  now  forms  a  large  part  of  the 
output  of  a  refinery  and  the  total  product  of  the  smaller 
establishments. 

As  has  already  been  noted,  the  production  of  cane 
sugar  is  widely  distributed  throughout  the  tropical  areas 
of  the  world.  The  following  table  (a)  indicates  the  chief 
producing  areas: 


> 


Area 

Average  Production 

Short   Tons 

Five  Years 
1904-5  to 
1908-9 

Five  Years 
1909-10  to 
1913-14 

Four  Years 
1914-15  to 
1917-18 

Louisiana  and 
Hawaii    

Texas 

377,279 
470,355 
222,992 
141,277 
1,405,602 
1,223,912 
261,856 
165,760 
146,275 
162,533 
2,244,390 
114,954 
211,638 
201.928 

302,647 
569,424 
365,838 
252,685 
2,288,160 
1,481,382 
285,744 
188,808 
193,851 
131,566 
2,614,258 
273,508 
214,080 
244.808 

237,690 
619,075 
465,873 
333,052 
3,326,715 
1,645,732 
310,570 
262,450 
199,902 
174,768 
2,905,550 
432,051 
240,761 
257.385 

Porto  Rico    . 

Philippines    .  . 

Cuba 

Java 

Brazil    

Peru 

Argentina    .  .  . 

British  West 
British  India 
Formosa  and 
Australia 

Indies 

(consumed  locally)  

Japan    .      .              

Mauritius     . 

India  has  known  and  cultivated  sugar  for  a  very 
long  time,  and  until  quite  recently  was  the  foremost  cane 
sugar  producer  of  the  world.  Apparently  habit  helps  to 
develop  a  sweet  tooth,  for  despite  its  great  importance 
as  a  producing  area,  British  India  does  not  supply  its 
own  population  but  is  an  importer,  hence  a  liability  from 
the  standpoint  of  a  sugar-hungry  world.  Cuba  is  now 
the  foremost  sugar  producer,  while  British  India  is  second 
and  Java  is  third. 


(a)  Data  for  1904-5  to  1914-15  from  United  States  Bureau  of  Foreign 
and  Domestic  Commerce,  Miscellaneous  Series  Xo.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Indus- 
try, page  432;  1915-16  to  1917-18  from  Willett  and  Gray,  Weekly  Statistical 
Sugar  Trade  Journal,  Nov.  22,  1917.  All  the  figures  for*1917-18,  and  part  of 
those  for  1916-17,  are  estimates. 


13 


Exportation,  rather  than  production,  is  the  test  of 
importance  from  the  standpoint  of  the  present  problem. 
The  chief  exporters  of  raw  cane  sugar  are  Cuba,  Java 
and  the  insular  possessions  of  the  United  States.  The 
direction  of  these  exports  is  now  a  lively  subject  of  in- 
terest to  the  American.  On  the  basis  of  an  average  for  the 
three  years  1914-15  to  1916-17,  Cuba  exported  altogether 
85  per  cent,  of  her  total  product,  and  67  per  cent,  of  her 
sugar  crops  came  to  the  United  States. 

The  following  table  (a)  summarizes  the  direction  of 
Cuban  exports  in  recent  years: 


Exported  to 

Average 

1909-1913 
Short  Tons 

Fiscal  Year 

1915-1916 
Short  Tons 

Fiscal  Year 

1916-1917 
Short  Tons 

United  States  

1  730,679 

2  573,448 

1  597  029 

United  Kingdom 

81  633 

650  177 

CM 

All  other  countries  

14,813 

149,686 

Cb^ 

•    Total   

1,827,125 

3,373,311 

2,222,921 

It  will  be  noted  from  the  above  figures  that  there 
was  a  great  increase  in  exportations  of  cane  sugar  from 
Cuba  to  the  United  Kingdom  during  the  year  1915-16. 
Although  official  data  are  not  available  for  exports  to  that 
country  for  the  last  fiscal  year,  it  is  apparent  on  the  face  of 
the  above  figures  that  the  level  for  1915-16  was  not  main- 
tained during  1916-17. 

Java  is  second  in  importance  as  an  exporter  of  sugar. 
She  exports  practically  all  of  her  sugar  crop.  Before  the 
war  British  India  was  the  heaviest  recipient  of  Javan 
sugar.  Although  exports  from  Java  to  British  India 
are  still  important,  the  United  Kingdom  and  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe  now  receive  a  large  share  of  Javan  sugar. 

(a)  Average  for  1909-1913  from  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic 
Commerce,  Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  page  435,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry; 
fiscal  year  1915-1916  from  "Commerce  of  Cuba,"  1915-16,  page  22;  fiscal  year 
1916-17  from  letter  of  Cuban  Consul-General. 

(b)  Figures  for  exports  to  United  Kingdom  not  available.     Amount  ex- 
ported to  countries  other  than  the  United  States,  625,892  tons. 


14 


The  following  table    (a)    summarizes  Javan  exports  to 
1916-17,  inclusive. 


Exported  to 

Average 
1908-9  to 
1912-13 
Short 
Tons 

1913-14 

Short 
Tons 

1914-15 

Short 
Tons 

1915-16 

Short 
Tons 

1916-17 

Short 
Tons 

United  Kingdom  and  Conti- 
nental Europe 

52,920 

342 

634,375 

365,289 

798,744 

Port     Said     and     Delaware 
Breakwater      

320,252 

68,496 

67,360 

47,337 

Hong  Kong 

196,009 

259,028 

147,495 

203,241 

191  749 

137,333 

265,353 

120,542 

53,971 

60,281 

British  India  

459,158 

683,689 

377,994 

511,056 

491,530 

Singapore,  etc. 

56,351 

119,368 

76,185 

69,750 

117,014 

All  other   

108,615 

9T,32T 

34,323 

71,728 

42,895 

Total   . 

1.330,638 

1,425,107 

1,459,410 

1,342.395 

1.749.550 

Various  statements  have  been  in  circulation  as  to 
the  vast  quantities  of  sugar  accumulated  in  Java  be- 
cause of  the  shortage  of  shipping.  On  the  face  of  the 
export  figures,  so  far  as  available,  in  comparison  with 
Javan  production  as  estimated  for  1917-18,  a  carry-over 
of  from  five  hundred  thousand  to  six  hundred  thousand 
tons  seems  reasonable.  However,  estimates  as  high  as 
one  million  tons  have  been  made  of  the  amount  of  raw 
sugar  accumulated  there.  The  transportation  of  this 
accumulated  Javan  sugar  to  the  markets  of  the  United 
States,  the  Entente  and  the  neutrals  would  solve  the  sugar 
problem. 

The  insular  possessions  of  the  United  States  produce 
a  large  amount  of  sugar  for  export.  However,  practically 
all  of  the  sugar  produced  in  Hawaii  and  Porto  Rico  comes 
to  the  United  States.  A  small  amount  of  cane  sugar  is 
exported  from  the  Philippine  Islands  to  Hong  Kong, 
China,  the  United  Kingdom,  Japan  and  other  countries. 
The  average  of  the  total  Philippine  exports  to  countries 
other  than  the  United  States,  for  the  five-year  period 


(a)  Compiled   from  Willett   and   Gray,   Weekly  Statistical  Sugar  Trade 
Journal,  1908  to  date. 


15 


from  1909  to  1913  inclusive,  was  only  65,680  tons  (a)  per 
year.  Data  for  1913-14  and  1914-15,  while  they  indi- 
cated a  slight  increase,  were  not  significant.  Data  since 
1914-15  are  not  available,  but  it  is  believed  that  no  impor- 
tant change  in  the  direction  of  Philippine  exports  has 
taken  place. 

The  war  has  had  a  marked  effect,  however,  on  the 
volume  of  exports  from  continental  United  States.  It 
must  be  understood  that  the  major  portion  of  such  ex- 
ports came  to  the  United  States  as  raw  sugar,  from  Cuba 
chiefly,  and  to  less  degree  from  our  insular  possessions. 

Before  the  beginning  of  the  war,  the  United  States 
was  quite  unimportant  as  an  exporter  of  refined  sugar. 
Our  average  exports  for  the  five  years,  1909  to  1913  in- 
clusive, were  only  38,387  tons.  During  1914  they  were 
even  lower,  25,448  tons.  For  the  last  three  fiscal  years, 
however,  they  have  been  as  follows: 

Exports  of  Refined 

Sugar 
Year  Short  Tons 

•# 

1915 274,504 

1916 815,075 

1917 624,420 

The  direction  of  these  exports  and  the  effect  on  the 
American  situation  are  considered  elsewhere. 


(a)   From    U.    S.    Bureau    of   Foreign   and   Domestic   Commerce,   Miscel- 
laneous Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  435. 

16 


Beet  Sugar 

The  beet  from  which  beet  sugar  is  produced  is  closely 
related  to  the  beet  grown  as  feed  for  cattle  and  known 
as  the  mangel-wurzel. 

Beet  growing  for  sugar  production  "did  not  become 
important  until  the  Napoleonic  wars,  when  commercial 
restrictions  cut  off  the  importation  of  sugar  from  the  West 
Indies.  France,  in  particular,  suffered  from  a  shortage 
of  sugar  when  the  imports  from  the  French  colonies 
ceased,  and  it  was  then,  with  the  personal  encouragement 
of  Napoleon,  that  the  production  of  beet  sugar  was  most 
in  evidence."  (a) 

After  the  downfall  of  Napoleon,  the  so-called  Conti- 
nental System  was  abolished,  and  imported  sugar  was 
again  admitted  on  the  continent.  While  this  proved  a 
temporary  set-back  to  the  new  industry,  by  1830  it  was  in 
full  swing  again.  The  most  scientific  methods  were 
adopted,  both  as  to  culture  and  manufacture,  and  new- 
varieties  of  the  sugar  beet,  high  in  sugar  content,  were 
developed. 

"The  industry  was  aided  on  the  Continent  by  pro- 
tective duties  and  later  by  the  grant  of  direct  or  indirect 
bounties  on  the  exportation  of  beet  sugar."  (a) 

Production  responded  promptly.  In  1840  beet  sugar 
was  but  four  per  cent,  of  the  total  sugar  product  of 
the  world.  By  1870  it  had  become  thirty-four  per  cent, 
of  the  total.  The  decade  from  1879-80  to  1888-89  saw 
beet  sugar  production  become  half  of  the  sugar  crop, 


(a)   United  States  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce,  Miscel- 
laneous Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  18. 

17 


while  in  the  next  ten  years  beet  sugar  constituted  three- 
fifths  of  the  world's  total. 


The  result  of  the  bounty  system  was  that  beet  sugar 
could  be  exported  by  the  beet  sugar  producing  countries 
of  the  Continent  at  a  price  which  threatened  to  ruin  the 
cane  sugar  industry.  The  situation,  after  having  been 
considered  by  various  international  conferences,  was 
finally  adjusted  by  the  Brussels  International  Sugar  Con- 
vention which  became  in  force  on  September  1,  1903,  and 
which  is  a  landmark  in  sugar  history.  The  convention 
included  all  of  the  principal  countries  of  Europe  except 
Russia,  which  came  in  on  special  terms  in  1907.  The 
convention  accomplished  its  avowed  purpose  of  equal- 
izing the  conditions  of  competition  between  beet  and 
cane  sugar  of  various  countries  by  the  abolition  of  in- 
direct, as  well  as  of  direct,  bounties  on  production 
and  exportation  of  sugar,  and  a  limitation  of  the  rate  of 
import  duty.  This  latter  feature  "led  to  the  dissolution 
of  the  cartels,  and  coupled  with  a  reduction  of  the  excise 
tax  in  most  of  the  important  European  countries  signa- 
tory of  the  convention,  except  Austria-Hungary,  brought 
about  a  reduction  in  domestic  prices  of  sugar,  and  a  rise 
in  the  export  prices."  (a) 

Return  to  a  normal  plane  of  competition  did  not  put 
an  end  to  the  increase  in  beet  sugar  production,  which 
was  steady  until  the  outbreak  of  the  present  war.  But 
it  did  give  the  cane  sugar  industry  a  chance  to  develop,  so 
that  the  proportion  which  beet  sugar  production  bears  to 
the  total  has  declined.  During  the  five  years  from 
1899-1900  to  1903-4,  it  constituted  fifty-five  per  cent., 
during  the  next  five  years  it  was  forty-seven  per  cent., 
and  in  the  last  five  years  before  the  war,  1909-10  to 
1913-14,  it  was  forty-five  per  cent,  of  the  world  output. 


(a)   United  States  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce,  Miscel- 
laneous Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  18. 

18 


Continued  increase  in  cane  sugar  production  and  decrease 
in  beet  sugar  production  as  a  result  of  war  conditions 
have  reduced  beet  sugar  to  thirty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
total  for  the  four  war  years  from  1914-15  to  1917-18. 

Sugar  beets  in  no  way  constitute  a  unique  crop.  They 
require  good  soil  and  drainage,  and  abundant  water, 
either  by  rainfall  or  irrigation.  The  amount  and  kind 
of  fertilization  required  depends  upon  the  richness  and 
quality  of  the  soil.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  cultivation, 
the  beet  requires  constant  tending,  and  much  of  it  must 
be  by  hand  labor.  The  processes  by  which  the  sugar  is 
extracted  from  the  beet  differ  somewhat  from  the  pro- 
cesses involved  in  the  manufacture  of  cane  sugar. 

The  following  table  (a)  shows  the  total  beet  sugar 
production  of  the  world  for  each  year,  beginning  with 
1904-5: 

Year  Production 

Short  Tons 

1904-5 5,525,000 

1905-6 8,090,000 

1906-7 7,587,000 

1907-8 7,390,000 

1908-9 7,350,000 

1909-10 6,991,000 

1910-11 9,042,000 

1911-12 7,072,000 

1912-13 9,509,769 

1913-14 9,433,783 

1914-15 8,763,478 

1915-16 6,848,908 

1916-17 5,951,103 

1917-18 5,304,880 


(a)  Data  from  1904-5  to  1915-16  are  from  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and 
Domestic  Commerce,  Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry, 
page  438.  Data  for  1916-17  and  1917-18  are  from  Willett  and  Gray,  Weekly 
Statistical  Sugar  Trade  Journal,  Nov.  22,  1917.  Some  figures  for  1916-17,  and 
all  data  for  1917-18  are  estimates.  The  totals  in  this  table  differ  slightly  from 
the  beet  sugar  totals  which  entered  into  the  table  on  page  9,  as  the  former 
table  was  compiled  from  different  sources,  in  order  to  secure  comparable  data 
prior  to  1904-5. 

19 


Before  the  war,  Germany  was  by  far  the  largest  beet- 
sugar  producer,  Austria-Hungary  was  second,  Russia 
third,  France  fourth  and  the  United  States  fifth.  Since 
the  war  began,  however,  production  in  this  country  has 
expanded,  until  we  are  producing  more  sugar  than  France 
produced  before  the  war.  The  following  table  (a)  indi- 
cates the  chief  beet-sugar  producing  areas: 


Area 

Average  Production 

Slu>rt  Tons 

Five  Years 
1904-5  to 
1908-9 

Five  Years 
1909-10  to 
1913-14 

Four  Years 
1914-15  to 
1917-18 

2,309,616 
1,232,015 
1,439,238 
385,631 

825,522 
190,470 
277,257 
150,080 

2,525,899 
1,659,947 
1,651,889 
607,672 
747,142 
246,146 
279,918 
211,050 

1,876,927 
1,488,241 
1,220,686 
849,750 
235,318 
278,816 
160,200 
158,625 

Russia,                             •                  .    • 

United  States       

Netherlands    

Italy  

Before  the  beginning  of  the  present  war,  six  Euro- 
pean countries  were,  under  normal  conditions,  exporters 
of  beet  sugar.  In  the  order  of  importance  they  were: 
Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  Russia,  France,  Nether- 
lands and  Belgium. 

Germany  normally  exported  37  per  cent,  of  her  total 


(a)  Data  from  1904-5  to  1915-16  are  from  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and 
Domestic  Commerce,  Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry, 
page  438.  Data  for  1916-17  and  1917-18  are  from  Willett  and  Gray,  Weekly 
Statistical  Sugar  Trade  Journal,  Nov.  22,  1917.  Some  figures  for  1916-17,  and 
all  data  for  1917-18  are  estimates.  The  totals  in  this  table  differ  slightly  from 
the  beet  sugar  totals  which  entered  into  the  table  on  page  19,  as  the  former 
table  was  compiled  from  different  sources,  in  order  to  secure  comparable  data 
prior  to  1904-5. 


20 


production.     The  following  table  (a)  shows  the  pre-war 
distribution  of  German  exports: 

Average  Exports 

1909-1913 
Short  Tons 
Country  (b) 

United  Kingdom   637,749 

Norway    40,392 

Switzerland    31,224 

Netherlands    19,662 

Uruguay    19,359 

Argentina    18,121 

Denmark    14,680 

All  other  countries  (c)    91,701 


\ 


General  Average 872,888 


Austria-Hungary,  before  the  war,  exported  about 
51  per  cent,  of  her  output.  The  distribution  of  her  ex- 
ports was  as  follows  (d) : 

Average  Exports 

1909-1913 
Country  Short  Tons 

Great  Britain   423,200 

Turkey    123,037 

British  India 98,944 

Switzerland    72,518 

Greece    23,037 

Bulgaria    16,602 

Portugal    10,811 

All  other  countries  (c)   80,480 


General  average 848,629 


(a)  Compiled   from   U.   S.  Bureau  of  Foreign   and   Domestic  Commerce, 
Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  442. 

(b)  Includes  both  raw  and  refined  sugar. 

(c)  Countries  shown  separately  which  received  10,000  or  more  tons. 

(d)  Compiled   from   U.  S.   Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce, 
Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  443.     Include* 
both  raw  and  refined  sugar. 

21 


Russia,  previous  to  the  war,  exported  only  about  18 
per  cent,  of  her  sugar  product,  keeping  the  bulk  of  her 
crop  for  home  consumption.  Below  is  shown  the  distri- 
bution of  her  product  for  the  five  years  from  1909  to 
1913  (a): 

Country  Average  Exports 


1909-1913 
Short  Tons 


Persia    85,808 

Great  Britain   79,535 

Finland    58,282 

Turkey 41,246 

Germany    13,984 

All  other  countries  (b) 14,301 


General  average 293,156 


France  was  fourth  in  the  order  of  importance  as  to 
beet  sugar  exports.  She  normally  exported  about  27 
per  cent,  of  her  sugar  product.  The  following  table  (c) 
indicates  the  direction  of  her  exports  prior  to  1914: 

Country  Average  Exports 

1909-1913 
Short  Tons 

Great  Britain 46,416 

Algeria    45,041 

Morocco 38,335 

Switzerland   14,040 

Tunis    11,419 

All  other  countries  (b) 48,926 


General  average 204,177 


(a)  Compiled   from  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce, 
Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  443.      Includes 
both  sand  white  and  refined  sugar. 

(b)  Countries  shown  separately  which  received  10,000  or  more  tons. 

(c)  Compiled   from   U.   S.   Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce, 
Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  444.     Includes 
sugar  of  all  kinds. 

22 


France,  however,  imported  practically  an  equivalent 
of  cane  sugar,  so  that  her  exports  were  not  an  actual  con- 
tribution to  the  world  supply.  This  point  is  discussed 
further  in  relation  to  the  present  French  situation. 

While  the  total  exported  by  Netherlands  was  less 
than  for  the  preceding  countries,  81  per  cent,  of  the  total 
product  was  exported.  Below  is  indicated  the  direction 
of  Dutch  sugar  exports  ( a )  : 

Country  Average  Exports 

1909-1913 
Short  Toiis 

United  Kingdom    190,353 

All  other  countries 7,906 


General  average   198,259 


Belgium  normally  exported  about  51   per  cent,  of 
her  sugar  crop.    Its  distribution  was  as  follows  (b)  : 

Country  Average  Exports 


1909-1913 
Short  Tons 


Great  Britain 78,383 

Netherlands 32,939 

Persia 12,429 

All  other  countries  (c) 19,238 


General  average   142,989 


(a)  From  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce,  Miscellane- 
ous Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  445.     Includes  sugar  of  all 
kinds. 

(b)  From    U.    S.    Bureau   of   Foreign    and    Domestic   Commerce,    Miscel- 
laneous Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  444.     Includes  sugar  of 
all  kinds. 

(c)  Countries  shown  separately  which  received  10,000  or  more  tons. 

23 


The  World's  Sugar  Consumption 

The  world's  sugar  consumption  is  its  sugar  produc- 
tion; that  is,  although  normally  a  considerable  quantity 
of  sugar  is  carried  in  stock  in  the  world,  consumption 
has  expanded  to  keep  pace  with  the  expansion  of  produc- 
tion. Official  data  as  to  the  sugar  consumption  of  various 
countries  are  not  available  later  than  1912-13. 

Sugar  consumption  may  be  expressed  as  a  total,  or 
on  a  per  capita  basis.  The  following  table  (a)  shows  the 
average  consumption  of  sugar  by  each  of  the  countries 
now  chiefly  in  the  forefront  of  our  interest,  for  the  five 
years  from  1908-9  to  1912-13.  The  countries  are 
arranged  in  descending  order,  on  the  basis  of  average  total 
consumption. 

Average  Annual  Consumption 

of  Sugar,  1908-9  to  1912-13 
Country  short  Tons 

United  States 3,797,610 

United  Kingdom 2,056,529 

Russia    1,322,285 

Germany    1,299,585 

France    704,830 

Austria-Hungary    679,204 

Belgium   120,558 


(a)   From    U.    S.    Bureau   of   Foreign    and   Domestic   Commerce,   Miscel- 
laneous Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  452. 

24 


The  table  (a)  below  indicates  the  pre-war  per  capita 
consumption  for  the  nations  included  in  the  above  table, 
together  with  data  on  per  capita  consumption  for  Italy,  for 
which  no  average  annual  consumption  figure  is  available: 


Country 

Per  Capita  Consumption  of  Sugar  in  Pounds 

1908-9 

1909-10 

1910-11 

1911-12 

1912-13 

United   States    

80 
91 
44 
25 
37 
20 
33 
9 

80 
86 
44 

25 
38 
23 
32 
9 

77 
92 
48 
29 
43 
22 
38 
10 

82 
86 
41 
25 
39 
23 
33 
10 

85 
96 
49 
28 
43 
24 
39 
11 

United   Kingdom 

Germany    

Austria-Hungary    

France                  . 

Russia    

Belgium                   .   . 

Italy 

The  Central  Powers 

It  would  appear  that  whatever  the  situation  as  to  the 
general  food  shortage  in  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary, 
there  is  no  sugar  famine.  During  1916,  Holland  appar- 
ently received  a  small  amount  of  sugar  from  Germany, 
(b),  while  a  dispatch  from  Stockholm,  dated  December 
2,  1917,  (c),  states  that  German  sugar  is  being  received 
there,  and  it  is  asserted  that  the  sugar  has  been  received 
without  any  special  compensation  from  Sweden's  re- 
sources. From  the  standpoint  of  the  United  States  and 
the  Entente  nations,  however,  the  fate  of  the  Central 
Powers,  as  to  their  sugar  supply,  is  of  no  concern;  and 
neutral  nations  will  presumably  receive  no  sugar  from  us 
or  our  allies,  until  such  time  as  we  ourselves  have  been 
comfortably  supplied. 

Certain  members  of  the  Entente  are  also  relatively 
small  factors  on  the  consumption  side  of  the  ledger.  Rus- 
sian production,  on  the  basis  of  the  estimate  for  1917-18, 
will  be  735,012  tons,  or  42  per  cent,  below  the  average 
for  the  five  years  from  1911-12  to  1915-16,  after  which 

(a)  From   U.   S.   Bureau   of   Foreign   and   Domestic   Commerce,   Miscel- 
laneous Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  453. 

(b)  The  New  York  Times,  Sept.  30,  1917. 

(c)  The  Journal  of  Commerce  (New  York),  Dec.  3,  1917. 


25 


date  the  effects  of  war  first  became  apparent  on  the  Rus- 
sian sugar  crop.  On  the  other  hand  Russia  normally  had 
exported  an  average  of  nearly  300,000  tons  per  year,  so 
that  elimination  of  her  exports  should  enable  her  to  get  on 
without  great  difficulty. 

Belgian  production  has  been  cut  in  half  by  the  war. 
However,  under  normal  conditions  Belgium  exported 
about  51  per  cent,  of  her  sugar,  so  that  her  present  pro- 
duction, if  it  could  be  secured  to  the  Belgian  population, 
would  apparently  supply  them.  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  sugar  produced  in  Belgian  territory  under  German 
occupation  is  at  least  in  part  diverted  to  German  uses. 
Even  if  such  be  the  case,  however,  it  is  hard  to  see  how 
additional  sugar  sent  to  Belgium  could  be  otherwise  than 
an  assistance  to  Germany. 

Italy 

Italian  sugar  consumption  is  very  low,  so  that 
although  her  beet  sugar  product  is  not  large,  having  aver- 
aged 211,050  tons  for  the  five  years  from  1909-10  to 
1913-14  inclusive,  her  annual  imports  for  the  same  period 
averaged  but  8,830  tons  (a)  per  year.  The  war  has  greatly 
curtailed  Italian  production.  As  against  a  pre-war  aver- 
age of  211,050  tons,  production  during  the  war  has  been 
as  follows: 

Year  Annual  Production 

Short  Tons 

1914-15 184,084 

1915-16. 198,414 

1916-17   (Estimated) 168,000 

1917-18    (Estimated) 84,000 

.Japan  and  Formosa 

Cane  sugar  production  has  increased  rather  rapidly 
in  Japan  and  Formosa,  so  that  averages  are  of  little  value 
in  reviewing  the  situation.  The  following  table  sum- 

(a)   From   U.    S.    Bureau   of   Foreign   and    Domestic   Commerce,   Miscel- 
laneous Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  449, 

26 


marizes  production  from  1909  to  date,  and  imports,  so 
far  as  available,  for  these  territories: 


Year 

Production 

Short  Tons 

Imports 

Short  Tons 

1908-9     

194,320 

219,819 

1909-10                        

291,648 

148,253 

1910-11 

372,614 

132,508 

1911-12    

269,797 

86,943 

1912-13 

147,867 

150,215 

1913-14    

285,613 

359,576 

1914-15              .               

282,000 

218,893 

1915-16 

453,854 

(b) 

1916-17    

488,349  (a) 

(b) 

1917-18                                    

504,000  (a) 

(b) 

The  chief  source  of  imports  is  the  Dutch  East  Indies, 
where  abundant  sugar  is  available,  so  that  Japan  and 
Formosa  may  be  said  not  to  enter  into  the  sugar  situation. 


China 

Chinese  imports  for  the  five  years  from  1909  to  1913, 
including  sugars  of  all  kinds,  averaged  329,364  tons  per 
year.  This  amount  was  secured  from  immediately  con- 
tiguous territories  where  there  is  plenty  of  sugar. 


France 

The  average  annual  consumption  of  sugar  in  France 
for  the  five  years  preceding  the  war,  1909  to  1913,  was  a 
little  over  seven  hundred  thousand  tons  (704,830)  per 


(a)  Estimate. 

(b)  No  data  available. 


27 


year.  The  average  annual  production  of  beet  sugar  in 
France,  for  the  same  period,  was  about  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  tons  (747,142).  The  war  affected  French 
production  sharply  and  at  once.  The  total  outturn  for  each 
of  the  crop  years  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  is  given  be- 
low. The  table  also  gives  the  percentage  of  decrease  in 
production  in  comparison  with  the  average  for  the  five 
pre-war  years : 


Crop  Year 

Production 

Short  Tons 

Percentage  of 
decrease  from 
average  production 
for  1909-1913 

1914-15    

339,368 

55 

1915-16             

163,552 

78 

1916-17    (Estimated) 

203,151 

73 

1917-18    (Estimated)    

235,200 

69 

It  will  be  seen  by  comparison  of  consumption  and 
production  prior  to  the  war  that  production  under  normal 
conditions  ran  about  40,000  tons  in  excess  of  consumption, 
and  this  excess  was  available  for  export. 


France,  however,  was  also  an  importer  of  cane  sugar 
and,  to  an  insignificant  extent,  of  beet  sugar.    Her  aver- 


28 


age  annual  imports,  for  the  five  years  prior  to  the  war, 
1909-1913  inclusive,  were  as  follows  (a)  : 

Kind  of  Sugar  Average  Annual 

and  Origin  Imports 


1909  to  1913 
Short  Tons 


Raw  Sugar 

From  French  Colonies 116,565 

From  Foreign  Countries: 

Cane    34,442 

Beet    6,923 


Average  Raw   157,930 

Refined  Sugar 

From  Foreign  Countries: 

Vergeoises  (Sucre  en  pain)    84 

Candied    927 

Other    17,096 


Average  Refined 18,107 


General  Average  Sugar  Imports 176,037 

Detailed  data  are  not  available  as  to  the  sources  of 
that  portion  of  French  imports  of  cane  sugar  which  did 
not  come  from  the  French  colonies.  For  the  entire  five- 
year  period  from  1909  to  1913,  inclusive,  however,  im- 
ports from  the  French  colonies  amounted  to  66  per  cent, 
of  the  whole. 

This  importation  was  chiefly  a  replacement  of  do- 
mestic beet  by  imported  cane,  and  enabled  France,  during 
the  five  years  prior  to  the  war,  to  export  an  average  of  a 
little  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  tons  (204,177)  (b) 
of  native  grown  beet. 

(a)  From   France  Tableau   General  du   Commerce  et  de  la  Navigation, 
1913,  Vol.  I,  page  87. 

(b)  Computed  from  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce, 
Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  444.     Includes 
exports  of  raw,  vergeoises  and  refined  sugar. 

29 


France  is  still  importing  some  sugar.  Only  general 
statements  are  available  as  to  the  amount.  It  is  known 
that  the  French  government  has  requisitioned  the  total 
product  of  "the  centrals  of  Guadeloupe  during  1917.  One 
hundred  and  sixty  tons  (352,739  pounds),  have  been 
taken  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  colony  until  February, 
1918,  when  a  new  crop  will  be  available,  and  the  re- 
mainder, approximately  36,000  metric  tons,  has  been 
taken  charge  of  by  the  French  government."  (a) 

As  regards  its  relation  to  the  present  problem  of  the 
world's  supply  of  sugar,  the  French  situation  may  be 
summarized  as  follows: 

(a)  Normal  French  consumption  prior  to  the  war 
was  about  700,000  tons  a  year. 

(b)  Decrease  of  population  due  to  the  war  has  not 
been  sufficient  to  reduce  this  consumption  ap- 
preciably. 

(c)  French  pre-war   sugar   consumption  was   nor- 
mally on  a  very  moderate  basis.    It  is  estimated 
to  have   been   about   forty   pounds   per   capita 
against  eighty  pounds  in  the  United  States  and 
ninety  pounds  in  Great  Britain. 

(d)  Before  the  war  French  production  was  slightly 
in  excess  of  consumption,  importation  being  a 
replacement  of  native  beet  by  cane  sugar,  and 
not  an  addition  to  the  available  supply  for  con- 
sumption. 

(e)  French  beet  sugar  production  has  been  reduced 
by  the  war  by  more  than  two- thirds. 

(f)  For  the  moment  leaving  possible  importations 
out  of  consideration,  it  is  estimated  that  France 
is,  therefore,  for  the  current  crop  year,  short 
about  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  tons.   In 
other  words,  if  she  were  dependent  upon  home 
production  alone,  it  would  be  necessary  to  cut 
consumption  from  forty  pounds  per  capita  to 
about  fourteen  pounds. 

(a)  U.  S.  Commerce  Reports,  October  31,  1917. 

30 


British  Empire 

Consumption  figures  for  the  British  Empire  as  a 
whole  are  not  available.  The  United  Kingdom  proper 
is,  next  to  the  United  States,  the  greatest  sugar  consumer 
in  the  world.  Its  per  capita  consumption  is  normally 
somewhat  higher  than  ours. 


The  United  Kingdom  is  not  a  producer  of  sugar. 
Canada  is  an  insignificant  producer  of  beet  sugar,  being 
dependent  mainly  on  imports  for  its  own  supplies.  India, 
while  for  a  long  time  the  heaviest  cane  sugar  producer 
in  the  world,  and  now  second  in  rank,  does  not  produce 
nearly  enough  sugar  for  her  own  people.  Australia  and 
New  Zealand,  although  the  former  is  a  considerable  pro- 
ducer of  cane  sugar,  are  both  sugar  importers.  In  other 
words,  the  entire  British  Empire  consumes  more  sugar 
than  it  produces. 


Canada 

Canadian  imports  of  sugar  for  the  five  years  from 
1909  to  1913,  including  sugar  of  all  classes,  averaged 
278,669  tons  (a)  per  year.  The  chief  sources  of  this 
sugar  were  the  British  West  Indies,  British  Guiana,  San 
Domingo  and  the  Dutch  East  Indies.  A  relatively  small 
amount  of  refined  sugar  was  imported  from  the  United 
States. 


India 

The  average  annual  imports  of  sugar  of  all  kinds  into 
India,  for  the  period  1909-1913,  were  648,465  tons  (a). 


(a)  Computed  from  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce, 
Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  451. 

31 


By  far  the  most  important  source  was  Java.  Next  in 
importance  was  Mauritius.  The  remainder  of  Indian 
importations  was  distributed  among  a  number  of 
countries. 


Australia  and  New  Zealand 

The  average  imports  into  this  territory  for  the  five 
years  from  1909  to  1913  were  141,504  (a)  tons.  The 
total  was  not  large.  A  considerable  part  came  from  Java, 
and  although  the  origin  of  the  remainder  was  not  avail- 
able in  the  sources  used  for  this  study,  it  is  a  safe  assump- 
tion that  practically  the  entire  amount  was  imported  from 
the  great  sugar  producing  areas  of  the  Malay  Archipelago 
which  lie  at  the  doors  of  Australia. 


United  Kingdom 

Prior  to  the  restriction  of  sugar  consumption  as  a 
war  measure,  the  per  capita  consumption  of  sugar  in  the 
United  Kingdom  was  about  ninety  pounds  per  year.  The 
total  average  annual  consumption  was  a  little  in  excess 
of  two  million  short  tons  (2,056,529).  This  entire  con- 
sumption was  met  by  the  importation,  for  the  five  years 
from  1909  to  1913,  of  an  average  per  year  amounting 
to  2,031,648  tons  of  sugar  of  all  kinds. 


(a)  Compiled   from  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce, 
Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  449. 

32 


The  sources  of  these  enormous  imports  prior  to  the 
war  are  indicated  below   (a)  : 

Country  Average  Imports  into  the 

United  Kingdom 


1909-1913 
Short   Tons 


Central  Powers — 

Germany    783,171 

Austria-Hungary 319,671 


Average   1,102,842 

European  Members  of  Entente- 
France  43,642 

Belgium   77,936 

Russia  (b)   79,535 


Average   201,113 

European  Neutrals- 
Netherlands    191,673 


Average   191,673 

Other  Sources — 

Java    123,401 

Peru   45,404 

Haiti    and    Dominican    Re- 
public      40,464 

British  West  Indies 39,253 

Mauritius    37,034 

Brazil    29,205 

British  Guiana       24,139 

United  States   23,168 

All  other 173,952 

Average   536,020 


General  Average 2,031,648 

(a)  Compiled   from  U.   S.   Bureau  of  Foreign   and   Domestic  Commerce, 
Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  450.     This  table 
is  probably  not  statistically  correct  in  detail,  as  the  classification  "All  other" 
in  the  table  from  which  it  was  drawn  is  not  the  same  for  refined  and  unre- 
fined sugar;  but  it  is  substantially  correct. 

(b)  Russian  data  from  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce, 
Miscellaneous  Series  No.  53,  The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  443.     "All  other" 
of  page  450,  cited  above,  has  been  reduced  by  the  elimination  of  Russia. 

33 


The  war  began  in  August,  1914,  and  submarine  war- 
fare became  a  serious  factor  at  a  later  date.  Although 
the  effect  of  the  war  was  seen  in  that  year  in  the  curtail- 
ment of  imports  from  the  Central  Powers,  the  total  for 
the  year  was  2,232,206  tons,  or  slightly  above  the  average 
for  the  five  preceding  years.  The  submarines,  and  the 
stress  of  war  on  the  general  economic  life,  began  to  show 
in  1915  and  1916,  the  total  imports  of  sugar  for  these 
two  years  being  respectively  1,660,238  tons,  and  1,721,711 
tons  (a). 

Although  the  imports  for  1915  and  1916  thus  show 
a  considerable  reduction  below  the  average  imports  before 
the  war,  the  reduction  is  remarkably  small  in  view  of  the 
situation  which  the  United  Kingdom  faced  as  regards  her 
sugar  supply.  More  than  one  million  tons,  out  of  total 
imports  of  a  little  over  two  million  tons,  had  formerly  been 
received  from  the  Central  Powers.  These  imports  were 
entirely  cut  off.  Likewise,  practically  the  entire  total 
of  two  hundred  thousand  tons  formerly  received  from  the 
European  members  of  the  Entente  was  no  longer  avail- 
able. Imports  from  Netherlands  were  reduced  from  an 
average  of  about  one  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  tons 
to  less  than  five  thousand  tons.  The  net  loss  represented 
by  the  elimination  of  these  various  sources  of  supply 
amounted,  on  the  basis  of  the  five-year  pre-war  average, 
to  more  than  1,450,000  tons  out  of  total  average  imports  of 
a  little  in  excess  of  two  million  tons. 

* 

Therefore,  the  fact  that  the  United  Kingdom  was 
able  through  other  sources  to  bring  up  her  total  imports 
to  1,700,000  tons  for  1916  and  1917  means  that  she  ex- 
panded her  imports  of  sugar  from  other  than  the  above 
sources  from  somewhat  more  than  a  half  million  tons  to 
one  million  two  hundred  thousand  tons.  The  main 


(a)   From  Economist,  London,  January  13,  1917,  Trade  Supplement,  pages 
3  and  4. 

34 


changes  in  the  sources  of  her  imports  seem  to  have  been  a 
diversion  of  the  product  of  Mauritius  to  the  United  King- 
dom instead  of  to  India,  and  a  large  expansion  of  ship- 
ments of  unrefined  sugar  from  Cuba,  the  Philippines 
and  Peru.  The  only  serious  difficulty  has  been  that  the 
imports  of  refined  sugar  suffered  heavily,  the  increase  in 
shipments  from  the  United  States  having  only  partially 
balanced  the  absence  of  supplies  of  refined  sugar  from 
Germany  and  Austria,  and  a  great  falling  off  in  ship- 
ments from  the  Netherlands,  (a) 

On  the  face  of  import  returns  it  is  hard  to  see,  at 
least  to  the  close  of  the  calendar  year  1916,  how  the 
United  Kingdom,  which  had  previously  averaged  a  per 
capita  sugar  consumption  of  ninety  pounds  per  year, 
should  have  suffered  any  serious  sugar  shortage.  The 
first  interim  report  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Sugar 
states  that  "up  to  the  end  of  1915,  the  supply  was  main- 
tained at  a  figure  showing  no  reduction  as  compared  with 
normal  times,  and  there  was  nothing  in  the  way  of  scar- 
city to  cause  hardship  to  the  public.  Such  discomfort  as 
there  may  have  been  was  owing  entirely  to  difficulties  of 
distribution  arising  out  of  railway  congestion  and  the 
changes  in  the  character  of  importation. 

"It  was  not  until  the  early  part  of  1916  that  reduc- 
tion in  supplies,  rendered  necessary  by  exigencies  of  ton- 
nage and  of  exchange,  became  appreciable  and  sufficient 
to  attract  public  notice.  .  .  No  serious  privation 
would  result  if  the  domestic  consumption  of  sugar  were 
to  be  limited  to  three-quarters  of  a  pound  a  week  per  head 
of  population.  To  provide  this  allowance  for  the  whole 
civil  population  of  the  United  Kingdom  would  not  require 
more  than  a  weekly  issue  of  fourteen  thousand  tons;  but 
the  weekly  issues  from  the  Sugar  Commission  have,  dur- 
ing the  period  of  greatest  restriction,  never  averaged  less 


(a)   From  U.  S.  Commerce  Reports,  August  13,  1917. 

35 


than  twenty-four  thousand  tons  a  week,  thus  leaving  an 
ample  margin  for  the  'supply  of  the  naval  and  military 
forces,  and  for  manufacturing  purposes.  'During  the 
greater  portion  of  the  period  of  the  Commission's  oper- 
ations, it  is  certainly  the  case  that,  exclusive  of  duty,  the 
selling  price  of  sugar  in  this  country  has  been  below  that 
of  sugar  in  New  York,  notwithstanding  the  added  cost 
of  freight."  (a) 

The  issuing  of  sugar  cards  in  the  United  Kingdom 
began  some  time  in  October.  The  weekly  allowance  is 
expected  to  vary  as  the  national  stocks  vary. 

The  United  States 

The  following  table  (b)  summarizes  the  sources  of 
sugar  consumed  in  the  United  States : 


Source 

Sugar  Consumption 
Short  Tons 

Average 
1909-1913 

1913-14 

1914-15 

1915-16 

(c) 

1916-17 

(c) 

1917-18 

Domestic: 
Cane   (Louisiana 
and    Texas)  .  . 
Beet 

333,618 
548,116 
881,734 

543,550 
320,304 
112,860 
976,714 
1,721,766 
272,006 
1,993*772 
54,600 

3,797,620 

•" 

300,537 
733,401 
1,033,938 

557,375 
320,626 
58,375 
936,376- 
2,463,303 
11,712 
2,475,015  • 
48,431 

4,396,898 

246,619 
722,054 
968,673 

640,431 
294,461 
163,421 
1,098,313 
2,392,444 
154,608 
2,547,052 
300,052 

4,313,986 

138,620 
874,220 
1,012,840 

568,580 
424,882 
108,595 
1,102,057 
2,575,425 
241,050 
2,816.475 
832,948 

4.098,424 

310,90€ 
822,726 
1,133,626 

581,303 
488,689 
133,946 
1,203,938 
2,3.34,549 
197,880 
2,532,429 
624,420 

4,245,573 

254,240 
980,000 
1,234,240 

(e) 
(e) 
(e) 
(e) 
(e) 
(e) 
(e) 
(e) 

(e) 

Total    

Insular    posses- 
sions: (d) 

Porto   Rico   .... 
Philippines    

Total    

Cuba    

Other  countries  .  . 
Total 

Held  for  domestic 
consumption     .... 

(a)  From  U.  S.  Commerce  Reports,  October  15,  1917. 

(b)  Production,  import  and  export  data  for  1909  to  1915-16  compiled  from 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce,  Miscellaneous  Series  No. 
53,   The  Cane  Sugar  Industry,  page  446.      Production  data  for   1916-17  and 
1917-18  from  Willett  and  Gray,  Weekly  Statistical  Sugar  Trade  Journal,  No- 
vember 22,  1917.      Import  and  export  data  for  1916-17  from  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce,  Monthly  Summary  of  Foreign  Commerce, 
June,  1917. 

(c)  Estimate. 

(d)  Virgin  Islands  included  under  "Other  countries"  because  they  were 
not  a  possession  of  the  United  States  until  1917. 

(e)  Data  not  yet  available. 


36 


The  total  supply  available  has  been  as  follows: 

Period  Short  Tons 

Average,  fiscal  years  1909-1913 3,852,220 

1913-1914 4,445,329 

1914-1915 4,614,038 

1915-1916 4,931,372 

1916-1917 4,869,993 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  domestic  sugar  consumed 
averages  23  per  cent.,  and  that  from  our  Insular  Posses- 
sions 24  per  cent,  of  the  whole,  leaving  an  average  of  53 
per  cent,  to  be  supplied  from  foreign  sources. 

Cuba  has  supplied  us  with  about  62  per  cent,  of  our 
total  imports. 

The  following  table  (a)  summarizes  our  total  and  per 
capita  consumption  since  1909: 


Year 

Total  Annual 
consumption 
of  all  sugars 
in  the  U.  S. 

Total 
consumption 
for  the  first  six 
months  of  each 
year 

Per  capita 
consumption 

1909.              

Tons 
3,648,579 

Tons 

Pounds 
81.8 

1910  

3,752,398 

1,838,845 

81.6 

1911  

3,753,558 

1,895,528 

79.2 

1912 

3,924,684 

2,032,007 

81.3 

1913  

4,257,715 

2,112,283 

85.4 

1914                   ...      . 

4,212,126 

2,386  830 

84.29 

1915  

4,192,316 

2,361,448 

83.83 

1916             

4,097,640 

2,394,261 

79.34 

1917.. 

2.650.527 

81.  (b) 

(a)  Compiled    from   Willett   and   Gray,    Weekly  Statistical  Sugar   Trade 
Journal,  first  January  and  July  issues  of  each  year. 

(b)  Estimate  of  1917  consumption  in  The  New  York  Times,  Sept.  7,  1917. 


37 


Price  Movement  in  the  United  States 

The  following  table  (a)  summarizes  the  price  move- 
ment of  sugar  in  the  United  States  from  1900  to  date: 

AVERAGE    YEARLY     WHOLESALE     AND     RETAIL     PRICES     AND 

THEIR    DIFFERENCES,    IN    CENTS    PER    POUND,    OF 

RAW  AND  REFINED  SUGAR,  1900  TO  DATE: 


Years 

Wholesale  Prices 

Difference 
between 
raw  and 
refined 
granulated 
sugar 

Granulated  sugar 

96°  centrif- 
ugal raw 
sugar 

Granulated 
sugar 

Average 
retail 
price 

Difference 
between 
wholesale 
and  retail 
prices 

1900    

4.57 
4.04 
3.54 
3.72 
3.97 
4.28 
3.69 
3.75 
4.06 
4.00 
4.19 
4.46 
4.16 
3.50 
3.84 
4.65 
5.79 

5.24 
5.17 

5.48 
6.21 
6.08 
6.04 
6.62 
7.27 
6.96 
6.90 

5.33 

5.05 
4.46 
4.64 
4.77 
5.26 
4.52 
4.65 
4.94 
4.76 
4.96 
5.33 
5.05 
4.27 
4.71 
5.56 
6.88 

6.62 

6.86 
7.06 
8.14 
7.94 
7.54 
7.45 
8.18 
8.23 
8.18 

.76 
1.01 
.92 
.92 

.80 
.98 
.83 
.90 
.88 
.76 
.77 
.87 
.89 
.77 
.87 
.91 
1.09 

1.38 
1.69 
1.58 
1.93 
1.86 
1.50 
.83 
.91 
1.27 
1.28 

6.10 
6.00 
5.60 
5.60 
5.90 
6.00 
5.70 
5.80 
5.90 
5.90 
6.00 
6.10 
6.30 
5.50 
5.90 
6.60 
8.00 

8.00 
8.10 
8.70 
9.60 
10.00 
9.30 
9.10 
9.90 
9.80 
9-70 

.77 
.95 
1.14 
.96 
1.13 
.74 
1.18 
1.15 
.96 
1.14 
1.04 
.77 
1.25 
1.23 
1.19 
1.04 
1.11 

1.38 
1.24 
1.64 
1.46 
2.06 
1.76 
1.65 
1.72 
1.57 
1.52 

1901 

1902    

1903 

1904    

1905    .      . 

1906    

1907    . 

1908    

1909    

1910 

1911    

1912 

1913    

1914 

1915    

1916    . 

1917— 
January    .  . 
February    . 
March    .... 
April   
May       .    .  . 

June    
July 

August    .  .  . 
September 
October    ... 

(a)  Compiled   from  bulletins   of  the   U.   S.   Bureau  of  Labor   Statistics, 
except  for  1917,  which  was  furnished  in  manuscript  by  that  Bureau. 


38 


Exports  of  Refined  Sugar  of  Domestic 
origin  from  the  United  States       _ 
in  Relation  to  the  War 

As  elsewhere  noted,  our  exports  of  refined  sugar  have 
expanded  as  a  result  of  the  war.  Prior  to  its  beginning, 
we  exported  but  1.4  per  cent,  of  our  available  supply. 
During  the  fiscal  year  1914-15  we  exported  6.5  per  cent., 
but  in  1916-17  we  exported  one-eighth,  or  12.8  per  cent. 
The  following  table  (a)  makes  clear  the  effects  of  the 
war  on  our  exports  of  refined  sugar: 

EXPORTS  OF  REFINED  SUGAR  FROM  THE  UNITED  STATES  FOR 

EACH    YEAR    FROM    1909    TO    1917    INCLUSIVE, 

IN  SHORT  TONS  (b). 

[Those  countries  are  shown  separately  which  received  exports  amounting 
to  25,000  or  more  tons  during  any  one  year  of  the  period  covered.  The 
relatively  large  amount  shown  at  "All  other"  is  distributed  among  more  than 
fifty  countries,  the  amount  sent  to  each  being  too  small  to  justify  showing 
separately.] 


Country 

1909 

1910 

1911 

1912 

1913, 

1914 

1915 

1916 

1917 

United  King- 
dom   

21,061 

51,071 

13,735 

26,620 

258 

757 

213,422 

466,229 

(c) 

France  

120,088 

175,148 

(c) 

Norway  

4 

3 

732 

48,132 

(c) 

All  other  

18,882 

11,645 

13,735 

13.  i77 

21,736 

24,691 

21.262 

125,566 

(c) 

Total 

39.943 

62,  TIP 

27,474 

39,797 

21,997 

25,448 

274,504 

815,075 

624.420 

Our  exports  to  the  United  Kingdom  expanded  from 
an  average  of  22,549  tons  for  the  five  years  from  1909 
to  1913  to  132,422  tons  during  the  fiscal  year  1914-15, 
and  466,229  tons  during  1915-16. 

Our  exports  to  France,  nothing  prior  to  1914-15, 
were  120,088  tons  in  that  twelve-month  period,  and 
175,148  tons  in  1915-16. 

(a)  This  table  includes  both  cane  and  beet  sugar. 

(b)  Compiled  from  United  States  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Com- 
merce, Commerce  and  Navigation  of  the  United  States,  and  Monthly  Summary 
of  Foreign  Commerce,  June,  1917. 

(c)  Total  only  available. 


39 


Detailed  data,  by  countries,  are  not  available  for  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1917,  but  a  total  of  624,420  tons 
of  refined  sugar  was  reported  during  that  fiscal  year.  Ex- 
ports of  domestic  refined  sugar,  so  far  as  available  for  the 
current  year,  are  as  follows  (a) : 


1917 

Country 

July 

Short  Tons 

August 

Short  Tons 

September 

Short  Tons 

France       .                      ... 

1  R  QQ£ 

23,578 

12,204 

Italy    . 

A   cyrrq 

161 

617 

Norway             «                 «                     .... 

t   Q7,4 

595 

50 

Spain    

fiOQ 

2,292 

597 

United  Kingdom           

C)RC) 

20,149 

164 

Mexico    

fi-lQ 

2,316 

1,441 

Argentina    

1  a  OfcQ 

18,293 

9,176 

TJruffuav 

QI  o 

5,905 

3,811 

Other    Countries    

1  4,73 

5,111 

3,627 

Total    

46,804 

78,400 

31,687 

(a)  Compiled    from    U.    S.    Bureau    of    Foreign    and    Domestic    Commerce, 
Monthly  Summary  of  Foreign  Commerce. 


40 


The  United  States  Food  Administra- 
tion and  the  Sugar  Situation  (a) 

Cuban  sugar  is  the  dominant  factor  in  the  American 
sugar  market.  Domestic  production  is  too  small  to  con- 
trol it.  Owing  to  the  competition  of  foreign  buyers  iri 
the  Cuban  market,  the  price  of  Cuban  sugar  advanced 
rapidly  from  June  to  August,  1917.  By  that  time  there 
was  very  little  left  of  the  old  crop  in  Cuba.  To  relieve 
the  situation,  the  Food  Administration,  by  means  of  two 
conferences,  secured  a  voluntary  agreement  accepted  by 
the  whole  of  the  beet  sugar  industry  of  the  country, 
by  which  the  sale  and  distribution  of  the  entire  beet 
sugar  product  of  the  United  States  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  Food  Administration,  to  be  sold  at  a  price 
not  exceeding  7.25c.  cane  basis  Seaboard  Refining  points. 
Voluntary  agreements  have  also  made  it  possible  to  ad- 
just the  cane  sugar  price  for  the  western  half  of  the 
United  States  on  the  same  basis.  Very  recently  the  Food 
Administration  announced  an  advance  of  ten  cents  per 
hundred  pounds  in  the  price  of  beet  sugar.  The  new  price 
of  7.35c.  per  pound  took  effect  on  December  12. 

On  September  21  the  International  Sugar  Commit- 
tee was  formed.  It  consists  of  five  members,  two  of  them, 
Sir  Joseph  White-Todd  and  John  V.  Drake,  Sr.,  ap- 
pointed by  the  Allied  Governments,  the  other  three  being 
Earl  D.  Babst,  the  president  of  the  American  Sugar  Re- 
fining Company;  W.  A.  Jamison,  of  Arbuckle  Brothers, 
and  George  M.  Rolph,  head  of  the  Sugar  Division  of  the 
Food  Administration.  It  is  the  duty  of  this  committee 
to  arrange  for  the  purchase  and  distribution  of  all  sugar, 
whether  for  the  United  States  or  the  Allied  countries. 


(a)  The  above  summary  was'  adopted  from  statements  issued  by  the 
United  States  Food  Administration,  published  in  the  Official  Bulletin  of  Sep- 
tember 18,  Volume  I,  No.  110,  and  later  issues. 

41 


The  three  American  members  serve  as  a  sub-committee  to 
handle  and  decide  purely  domestic  questions  with  which 
the  Allied  members  are  not  concerned. 

An  American  Refiners'  Committee  has  also  been  ap- 
pointed to  co-operate  with  the  International  Sugar  Com- 
mittee, with  the  idea  of  assisting  in  the  distribution  of  the 
refined  product.  This  committee  has  also  had  charge  of 
distributing  the  so-called  neutral  and  Russian  sugars,  com- 
mandeered for  consumption  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  the  refined  beet  sugar. 

Conferences  held  in  Washington  and  New  York  be- 
tween representatives  of  the  entire  sugar  refining  industry 
of  this  country  and  the  Food  Administration,  have  re- 
sulted in  a  voluntary  agreement  for  the  duration  of  the 
war.  Refiners  will  undertake  not  only  to  obtain  their 
supplies  of  raw  sugar  under  the  direction  of  the  Inter- 
national Sugar  Committee,  but  they  also  have  agreed  to 
work  at  a  stipulated  margin  between  the  cost  of  raw  sugar 
and  the  selling  price  of  refined,  thus  limiting  profits  and 
going  a  long  way  towards  stabilizing  prices  and  elimi- 
nating speculation.  The  refiners  have  agreed  to  refine 
sugar  at  a  net  margin  between  the  cost  of  their  raw  mate- 
rial and  the  selling  price  of  their  refined  product  of  ap- 
proximately 1.30c.  per  pound,  after  trade  discounts  have 
been  deducted.  The  basis  for  this  margin  had  its  origin 
in  the  five-year  pre-war  period.  Owing  to  increased  costs, 
although  the  margin  is  slightly  higher  than  the  average 
for  the  five  pre-war  years,  the  actual  net  margin  of  profit 
left  to  the  refiners  is  about  the  same  as  the  pre-war  basis. 

The  Food  Administration  entered  into  negotiations 
with  the  Cuban  Government  and  the  Cuban  planters,  and 
on  November  30th  "an  agreement  in  regard  to  the  pur- 
chase and  sale  basis  price  of  Cuban  sugars  for  the  coming 
crop  year  was  arrived  at,  the  figure  being  4.90c.  cost  and 
freight,  based  on  .30c.  freight  rate,  which  reflects  an  equiv- 
alent of  about  4.60e.  f.  o.  b.  Cuba.  The  actual  price  of 

42 


the  sugar  at  New  York  can  only  be  determined  after  the 
United  States  Shipping  Board  has  announced  the  rate 
of  freight,  which  point,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  settled  within 
a  very  few  days."  (a)  A  number  of  Cuban  centrals  have 
already  started  grinding,  and  sugar  will  be  shipped  as 
rapidly  as  transportation  for  it  can  be  provided. 

This  co-operative  buying  between  the  refiners,  and 
the  purchasing  of  raw  supplies  for  England,  France, 
Italy  and  Canada,  with  the  resultant  elimination  of  com- 
petitive buying,  is  expected  to  save  consumers  a  great 
deal  and  to  prevent  rapid  fluctuations  in  price. 


(a)  As  announced  in  the  Journal  of  Commerce  (New  York),  Dec.  1,  1917. 

43 


Summary  of  the  Sugar  Situation 

The  present  shortage  in  the  sugar  supply  is  tem- 
porary and  will  be  relieved  as  soon  as  the  new  crop  begins 
to  arrive,  The  crops  for  each  of  the  three  years  since 
the  war  has  been  in  full  swing,  1915-16,  1916-17  and 
1917-18  (estimated),  approximate  the  average  for  the 
five  years  preceding  the  war — in  round  numbers, 
18,500,000  tons.  It  is  true  that  this  figure  represents  a 
decline  of  about  2,000,000  tons  below  the  average  produc- 
tion for  the  three  crop  years  1912-13,  1913-14,  and 
1914-15.  However,  these  were  record-breaking  years, 
representing  the  world's  maximum  production. 

Beet  sugar  production  has  been  heavily  curtailed  by 
war  conditions,  but  cane  sugar  production  has  increased 
by  more  than  two  million  tons  since  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  thus  partially  offsetting  the  loss.  The  cane  sugar 
supply  is  all  at  the  disposal  of  the  United  States,  the 
Entente  and  the  neutrals.  The  question  as  to  whether 
the  Central  Powers  have  sufficient  sugar  or  not  is  of  no 
interest  to  the  United  States.  It  is  to  be  assumed,  also, 
that  the  neutrals  will  not  be  supplied  until  the  United 
States  and  her  Allies  have  all  the  sugar  that  they  need. 

The  situation  varies  among  the  different  countries 
of  the  Entente.  Russia  and  Italy  are  both  somewhat 
short  of  sugar.  Russia,  however,  is  not  sufficiently  in 
need  to  become  a  drain  on  the  available  supply,  and  Italy 
is  such  a  small  consumer  of  sugar  that  to  make  up  her 
deficit  is  a  small  matter.  France,  however,  is  very  short 
of  sugar.  On  the  basis  of  a  normal  consumption  of  seven 
hundred  thousand  tons,  she  is  short  two  hundred  thousand 
tons,  and  as  the  French  people  were  not,  under  peace 
conditions,  abnormally  high  consumers  of  sugar,  their 
deficit  must  be  made  up.  British  per  capita  consumption 

44 


normally  was  so  high  that  the  British  can  stand  a  reduc- 
tion. Imports  to  that  country,  to  the  close  of  1916,  were 
approximately  three  hundred  thousand  tons  below  the 
normal.  No  British  import  data  are  available  after  that 
date.  Sugar  consumption  in  that  country,  however,  is 
under  rigorous  restrictions. 

Great  Britain  has  been  able  to  maintain  a  relatively 
high  import  figure  by  the  change  in  the  direction  of  her 
importations.  When  her  beet  sugar  imports  were  prac- 
tically cut  off,  she  increased  her  shipments  from  Cuba 
and  the  Philippines.  This  affects  our  supplies  as  sharply 
as  though  the  sugar  went  directly  from  our  own  shores. 
She  has  also  been  able  to  increase  her  imports  from 
Mauritius  and  Peru,  and  these  increased  shipments  in 
no  wise  affect  us. 

The  problem  for  the  United  States  is  only  a  part 
of  the  world  problem.  The  United  Kingdom  and  France 
must  have  a  reasonable  supply  of  sugar,  not  because  sugar 
is  necessary  to  life  or  comfort,  but  because  it  is  a  form 
of  food  which  can  rapidly  be  converted  into  energy  and 
is  therefore  especially  valuable  for  soldiers  and  for  work- 
ers engaged  in  hard  manual  labor,  such  as  ship  building 
and  the  manufacture  of  munitions. 

We  are  heavy  consumers  of  sugar,  our  per  capita 
figure  being  second  only  to  that  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
Although  beet  sugar  production  is  increasing  in  the 
United  States,  it  is  not  very  likely  to  expand  fast  enough, 
especially  in  the  face  of  a  regulated  price,  to  be  much 
more  of  a  factor  in  the  situation  than  it  is  at  present.  Our 
entry  into  the  war  has  necessarily  resulted  in  much  dis- 
turbance of  our  shipping.  The  effect  which  the  shipping 
situation  may  have  on  our  imports  from  the  Philippines 
and  from  Cuba  is  not  yet  to  be  estimated. 

The  accumulation  of  sugar  in  Java  is  an  interesting 
feature  in  the  situation.  The  most  conservative  estimates 
are  to  the  effect  that  from  five  hundred  thousand  to  six 

45 


hundred  thousand  tons  of  sugar  are  stored  there  because 
of  the  lack  of  shipping  facilities.  This  quantity  would 
amply  supply  all  needs,  but  at  present  it  cannot  be  trans- 
ported to  the  United  States,  Great  Britain  or  France. 
Reports  have  been  circulated  to  the  effect  that  the  Javan 
movement  to  the  United  Kingdom  is  satisfactory,  but 
these  rumors  are  not  well  confirmed. 

Even  without  this  Javan  sugar,  however,  there  is 
enough  cane  sugar  available  for  the  Entente  and  for  the 
neutrals,  if  the  crop  in  Cuba  and  other  convenient  cane 
producing  areas  can  be  shipped  and  distributed  intelli- 
gently. The  Food  Administration  has  undertaken  to  deal 
with  the  situation.  Governmental  price  control  and  dis- 
tribution can  be  effective.  The  British  government  has 
succeeded  so  well  in  the  case  of  sugar  that  the  Royal 
Sugar  Commission  was  able  to  say  in  its  first  report  (a)  : 

"During  the  greater  portion  of  the  period  of  the 
Commission's  operations  it  is  certainly  the  case  that,  ex- 
clusive of  duty,  the  selling  price  of  sugar  in  this  country 
(England)  has  been  below  that  of  sugar  in  New  York, 
notwithstanding  the  added  cost  of  freight." 

It  is  true  that  the  present  sugar  shortage  is  but  tem- 
porary, and  that  as  soon  as  the  new  crop  begins  to  come 
into  the  market,  the  supply  again  will  be  quite  adequate 
to  our  needs.  At  the  same  time,  sugar  is  a  valuable  food 
which  must  be  carefully  conserved.  Even  when  it  again 
becomes  available  in  normal  quantities,  it  must  be  wisely 
used.  No  waste  can  be  tolerated. 


(a)  U.  S.  Commerce  Reports,  No.  241,  Oct.  15,  1917. 

46 


National  Bank  of  Commerce 
in  New  York 

ORGANIZED    1839 

President 
James  S.  Alexander 

Vice-Presidents 

R.  G.  Hutchins,  Jr.  Stevenson  E.  Ward 

Herbert  P.  Howell  John  E.  Rovensky 

J.  Howard  Ardrey  Guy  Emerson 

Cashier 
Paris  R.  Russell 

Assistant  Cashiers 

A.  J.  Oxenham  A.  F.  Broderick 

William  M.  St.  John  Everett  E.  Risley 

Louis  A.  Keidel  H.  P.  Barrand 

A.  F.  Maxwell  Richard  W.  Saunders 

John  J.  Keenan  H.  W.  Schrader 

Gaston  L.  Ghegan  R.  E.  Stack 

A  uditor  Manager  Foreign  Department 

A.  F.  Johnson  Franz  Meyer 

Statement  of  Condition 

November  2O,  1917 

RESOURCES 

Loans  and  Discounts  -  -          $293,284,063.16 

U.S.  Certificates  of  Indebtedness  -  -     203,895,000.00 

U.S.  Liberty  Bonds  -  -  -  13,182,448.00 

Other  Bonds,  Securities,  etc.        -  -  -        24,362,772.27 

U.  S.  and  Other  Bonds  Borrowed      -  -  3  7,96 1 , 300.00 

Banking  House  -  -  -  2,000,000.00 

Due  from  Banks  and  Bankers  -  1  6,32  1 ,462.2  1 

Cash,  Exchanges  and  due  from  Federal  Reserve  Bank  8  7,002 ,  i  7 1 .88 
Customers'Liability  under  Letters  of  Credit&  Acceptances  3 1 ,622,528.89 
Interest  Accrued  -  -  1 ,049,96  7.0 1 

§710,681,713.42 

LIABILITIES 

Capital,  Surplus  and  Undivided  Profits  $45,889,447.03 

Deposits,  including  those  of  U.  S.  Government  -      562,566,1  14.15 

U.  S.  and  Other  Bonds  Borrowed      -  37,96 1 ,300.00 

Letters  of  Credit  and  Acceptances  -        3 1 ,9 1  1 ,925.34 

Bills  Payable  with  Federal  Reserve  Bank       -  27,000,000.00 

Unearned  Discount         -  2, 1  1 2,926.90 

Other  Liabilities        -                                         -  3,240,000.00 

§710,681,713.42 


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